Blue-green algae affecting reproductive health

Algal blooms that occur in rivers and waterways have been found to produce a previously unrecognized estrogen-like compound that adversely affects fish, plants and humans by disrupting the normal activity of reproductive hormones.

University of Tennessee researchers, led by biotechnologist Theodore Henry, compared groups of larval zebrafish exposed to blue-green algae (Microcystis) cells with those exposed to only the well-studied toxin they produce.